Gas burner assembly



Bea. 12, 196'? R. D. SS'CIF-IWEiTZEFQ GAS BURNER AS SEMBLY Filed June 27, 19%

Sheets-5heet 1 INVENTOR. RONALD D. SCHWE/TZER ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,357,475 GAS BURNER ASSEMBLY Ronald D. Schweitzer, Mansfield, Ohio, assignor to The Tappan Company, Mansfield, Ohio, a corporation of ()hio Fiied June 27, 1966, Ser. No. 560,431 4 Claims. (Cl. 158-413) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A gas burner for installation in the top of a cooking oven having a tubular body with rows of ports at which the gaseous fuel is burned and an assemblage of top and bottom batfies cooperably defining at each side a space in which the combustion occurs, with the baffle sections at each side having a variable vertical spacing along the length of the body and being also outwardly divergent therefrom.

This invention relates to a gas burner assembly for broiling in the upper portion of a cooking oven and particularly an oven of a free standing gas range.

The standard basic construction of a gas oven for cooking in the home comprises an enclosure which is vertically divided by a horizontal plate into upper and lower compartments, with the former usually of considerably greater height thanthe latter, and a single gas burner assembly installed horizontally just below the plate. The

upper compartment is provided with a separate door and thus constitutes the oven cavity for baking and the like, while the same burner can be used for b'roiling in the lower compartment. A drawer is usually provided for support of the food in and closure of such broiler and, in a free standing or cabinet type range, this drawer or other comparable support is spaced only a short distance above the floor. Electric ovens, on the other hand, are conventionally equipped with top heating elements readily accommodated in the oven cavity for broiling as well as baking therein and, in a free standing range, this means that the broiling is carried out approximately at waist height and thus more conveniently for the use of the range.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a burner assembly which is primarily intended and dc signed to be incorporated as a top broiler burner in a gas oven with very little alteration of the standard form of the latter, particularly in respect of the normal dimensioning thereof. The new broiler burner assembly is thus adapted for inclusion in conventional oven production and is so designed as to require only a small amount of space in the oven cavity which is available without (letracting as a practical matter from the useful volume 0 the oven.

It is a further object to provide such a burner assembly in a free standing range for broiling approximately at waist height, with the noted minimal requirement of space within the oven.

It is a further object of the invention to provide such a broiler burner assembly in which the flame is baffled in a particular manner to secure uniform distribution of the heat over the area of the oven.

Another object is to provide such an assembly of a gas burner and baffling which is of simple and inexpen sive construction.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends the invention, then, comprises the features here inafter fully described and particularly pointed out in 3,357,475 Patented Dec. 12, 1967 the claims, the following description and the annexed drawings setting forth in detail certain illustrative erubodiments of the invention, these being indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principle of the invention may be employed.

In said annexed drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a free standing gas range equipped with a broiler burner assembly in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary enlarged elevation, with parts in section, of the upper portion of the range and oven at which the broiler burner is installed;

FIG. 3 is a fragmented front view of this portion of the range with a partial section as shown by the line 33 in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a horizontal section through the oven and viewed upwardly beneath the burner assembly from the plane 4-4 in FIG. 2.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, the illustrated range is conventional apart from the broiler burner assembly in the oven to be described and is of the free standing or cabinet type in which there is a single large oven 10 having a bottom hinged door 11. This oven, which extends substantially fully across the width of the range, has the usual bottom plate 12 below which the main gas burner, not shown, is located, with rack supports 13 at the sides and one horizontalrack or shelf 14 shown in place. l

The surface cooking and control assembly designated generally by reference numeral 15 extends over the 'oven and forms the top of the" range, approximately at counter height, and this assembly comprises a top plate 16 shown as having four apertures about surface burners l7 arranged so that there are front and rear burners in line at each side. Eachsuch surface burner location is provided in the usual manner with a drip pan or bowl 18 and a suitable pan-supporting grate 19 and, in this range embodiment, the controls for both the surface burners and the even include knobs 2t projecting in a row above an inclined wall section 21 extending across the top front of the range above the oven. This range model is also provided with a backsplasher 22 projecting from the upper rear edge, and the cooking top' assembly comprises, as is also conventional, av pan or burner box 23 which encloses the various control devices, gas connections and surface burners also in accordance with standard construction.

The top wall 24 of the oven is provided with a generally rectangular opening 25, as shown most clearly in'FIG. 4, with its longitudinal centerline in the vertical central .plane of the oven cavity. This opening is shown as hav- I ing a width which is half or slightly more than half of tion 32 behind the oven wall 27 and its major extent the width ofthe oven and extends from a point closely behind the front frame 26 to the rear wall 27. A special broiler box 28 is placed inverted against the top exterior of the oven and is attached, for example, by screws 29, to fully enclose a space above the oven which extends above the bottom of the range burner box 23. The latter is provided with an opening to accommodate such penetration, and the special burner box is thus accommodated in the space between the pairs of the surface burners and beneath the top plate 16. The usual glass wool thermal insulation applied about the exterior of the oven has been omitted from the drawings for convenience.

The new broiler burner assembly, designated generally by reference numeral 30, is disposed horizontally in the top central portion of the oven at and extending just below the oven top opening 25. Such assembly comprises a burner 31 in the form of a tube, preferably made of aluminized steel, with a rear vertical air mixer sechaving a curved transition to such rear section and projecting horizontally through the wall to a front end 33 which is closed and flattened and attached by a screw 34 to the front edge of the oven top opening. The burner 31 has two series of small drilled holes forming ports 35 in close longitudinal spaced relation respectively at the sides and in the same horizontal plane as the axis of the burner.

A top baffle 36 is disposed on the burner and is secured thereto by a stud 37 carried by the burner at a top point approximately one-third of the distance from the axis of the rear vertical section 32 to the extreme front end 33 of the burner. Such metal baflie is generally rectangular, but formed with a longitudinal central convex section 38 of a radius corresponding to that of the burner tube to embrace approximately the top third of the tube, as shown most clearly in FIG. 3, and the sections 39 to both sides of this center section have small upward inclinations and extend outwardly to terminate in substantially vertically projecting side edge flanges 40. The top baffle length is such to extend from just behind the rearmost burner ports 35 to slightly beyond the end ports at the front, and the baffle width is such to leave only relatively narrow spaces between the terminal flanges 40 and the side walls of the broiler box 28, the inclination of the main sections of the baffle locating these flanged edges above the oven top and thus opposed to the broiler box walls.

The burner tube as shown is flattened, progressively forwardly from approximately the stud 37 to the front end, with this flattening accomplished primarily by depressing the top wall section of the burner. The burner is also provided with an attaching bracket 41 which extends through the rear oven wall 27.

The assembly further includes a lower or bottom baffle 42 of special configuration and its shape is most clearly shown in the bottom plan view of FIG. 4. This baffle is shaped to comprise a flat rectangular central section 43 which is centered below the burner tube and attached thereto directly at its forward edge by a screw 44, this edge being just to the rear of the front burner ports. From this attachment, the central section of the baflle 42 extends rearwardly at a slight downward inclination to a rear screw attachment'45 to the burner which includes an intervening spacer sleeve 46 providing the noted inclination. The rear edge of the lower battle is just forward of the rear burner ports, and the noted spacer will, as a more particular example, provide a three-eighths inch depression with a baflie ten inches long. This center section 43 of the lower baflie is alsoprovided with several rows of aligned slots 47 respectively at the sides of the burner tube, four being shown in staggered relation at each side.

Such lower baffle also includes side sections 48 contiguous with the central section 43 and having a slight downward inclination in extending outwardly therefrom. Each such side section 48 is approximately the same width as such center section, but has an angular forward edge 49, so that the parallel side edges 50 are of relatively reduced length and approximately as long as the maximum width of the baflie. Itwill be thus seen from FIG. 4 in particular that the plan of the lower baflie comprises an essentially square main portion and a trapezoidal forward portion the projection of which is slightly under half the length of such main portion.

The top and bottom bafl les thus cooperate to define at each side of the burner wall surfaces above and below the flame when the burner is on which have a general outward divergence from horizontal at a vertical spacing which undergoes a gradual reduction from the rear to the front. The lower baffle edge 50, moreover, is appreciably inboard of the outer edge 40 of the top baflie and, in a given assembly, an upper batfle width of approximately ten inches has been used with a lower baffle width of about seven inches. It will also be evident that the angular forward end of the lower baffle side portion 48 provides a rather sharply decreasing lower surface width forwardly from a point approximately seventy percent of the total distance from the rear edge at each side. The slots 47 in the lower baflle permit secondary air flow upwardly therethrough at each side of the burner,

and the combustion products enter the special broiler box, with the latter having a top rear opening 51 (FIG. 2) for venting purposes. If desired, this vent can be ex tended by suitable conduit to a particular desired discharge, for example, through a portion of the backsplasher, and of course this arrangement will also serve as a general vent for the oven.

It has been established that a broiler burner assembly as shown and described will provide uniform browning over the area of the oven, the aforesaid dimensions applying to such an assembly for an oven having a width of about twenty-four inchzs and a depth or front to rear dimension of about nineteen inches. This particular oven is about sixteen inches in height, with the burner one inch in diameter and the maximum height of the full broiler assembly less than two inches, from which it will be apparent that there is no real loss of useful space within the normal cavity.

Other modes of applying the principle of the invention may be employed, change being made as regards the details described, provided the features stated in any of the following claims or the equivalent of such be employed.

I, therefore, particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention:

1. A gas burner assembly for broiling in the upper portion of a cooking oven, comprising an elongated burner body adapted to be mounted horizontally within the oven adjacent thetop wall thereof, said body having rows of ports at the sides for discharge and burning. of a combustible gaseous mixture supplied to the interior of the body, upper baflie means having lower surfaces which project outwardly from the body sides closely above the rows of ports fully over the lengths of the same, and lower bafiie means having upper surfaces projecting outwardly from the sides of the body closely b:low the rows of ports and being longitudinally inclined, whereby the vertical separation of said upper surfaces and the lower surfaces of the upper bafiie means varies along the length of the burner body, said lower and upper baffle means surfaces being related to define a space for the burner flame at each side which is of outwardly increasing cross-sectional area, with the lateral projection of said lower surfaces being appreciably greater than that of said upper surfaces.

2. A gas burner assembly as set forth in claim 1, wherein said lower baffle means is generally in the form of a plate attached to the underside of the burner body, one end of which is closed, and having truncated corners adjacent said closed end of the. body.

3. A gas burner assembly as set forth in claim 2, wherein the lower baffle means is longitudinally inclined downwardly from the end thereof adjacent the closed end of the burner body,

4. A gas burner assembly asset forth in claim 1, ineluding a broiler box inverted over and of slightly greater area than said upper baflie means, said box being adapted to be mounted exteriorly at an opening in the top wall of the oven above the burner assembly.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 190,529 5/1877 Wilson 1587l 601,426 3/ 1898 Buerkle. 2,668,527 2/1954 Chambers l26-4l X 2,670,790 3/1954 Marble 1581l6 X FREDERICK L. MATTESON, JR., Primary Examiner.

HARRY B. RAMEY, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A GAS BURNER ASSEMBLY FOR BROILING IN THE UPPER PORTION OF A COOKING OVEN, COMPRISING AN ELONGATED BURNER BODY ADAPTED TO BE MOUNTED HORIZONTALLY WITHIN THE OVEN ADJACENT THE TOP WALL THEREOF, SAID BODY HAVING ROWS OF PORTS AT THE SIDES FOR DISCHARGE AND BURNING OF A COMBUSTIBLE GASEOUS MIXTURE SUPPLIED TO THE INTERIOR OF THE BODY, UPPER BAFFLE MEANS HAVING LOWER SURFACES WHICH PROJECT OUTWARDLY FROM THE BODY SIDES CLOSELY ABOVE THE ROWS OF PORTS FULLY OVER THE LENGTHS OF THE SAME, AND LOWER BAFFLE MEANS HAVING UPPER SURFACES PROJECTING OUTWARDLY FROM THE SIDES OF THE BODY CLOSELY BELOW THE 